rubi_con_man:Open Source is out there to shift the 'cost' from the cost of software to the cost of labor.

There's a lot of open source that falls into the category of: "I needed to write this module to deliver the software I wanted to build. This module is useful, but is not something worth putting out as its own product, especially when I already have a product. I'll open source it, and now my actual product can benefit from improvements the community makes to this module. Now I can focus on my actual product."

Alonjar:Oh, and the rep rap guy's gotta be slitting his wrists right now.

Nah. For starters, it's not "a guy", it's a core team with a pile of contributors. Regardless, RepRap has never been about building a marketable product. It's been about building a cheap 3D printer that can build copies of itself. There really isn't a RepRap product.Commercial vendors have taken the RepRap and used its design to build actual products which can be sold on the market.

Open Source is out there to shift the 'cost' from the cost of software to the cost of labor.

i.e. this is a cool idea, but I can't get anyone to pay me to build it.

... so I'll build the core, and then 'open source' it,

Eventually, someone will need it actually implemented, and they'll pay me - the expert in the open source project - to implement its full form for them.

The real joke is that by making it an 'open source' project they were able to develop several iterations of their product with next to no R&D budget thanks to the eager community of enthusiastic users. Most of the innovations and improvements to the device came from the input of that community. Last year they announced that the new version would not be open source- thanks for all your help and support, now fark off. This buy out is no surprise.Here's the real punchline- 3D printing is the virtual reality of the 20teens. Remember back in the 90's when VR was going to be the next big breakout technology? Where is it now? Sure we have the Occulus Rift but it will never be a common household item. 3D printers will never fill a need in the average American household, in spite of all the Star Trek replicator hype from the boosters. Paper printers caught on because people had things they needed to print on a regular basis- letters, documents, coupons, photos, school work, etc. Are there similar 3D items we need on a regular basis? After you print a few toys and curiosities,that Makerbot will end up in a closet collecting dust right next to your Nintendo Virtual Boy, your beer making kit and your tomogachi and Bre Pettis will be laughing all the way to the bank.

Quantum Apostrophe:Alonjar: Thats a very large number for a less than spectacular product. Sonofabiatch. Guess they wanted the name more than anything.

/I bet Quantum Apostrophe is going to be pissed one way or another.

Not as pissed as you techno-utopians will be when the future won't happen.

In ten years, no one will drive in a 3D printed car, no one will eat 3D printed food on a 3D printed space station.

In ten years, maybe I'll buy a 3D printer if it makes tiny plastic parts to decorate my quadcopter.

Arguably some of your car parts from major manufacturers might be 3D printed, the major parts will always be molded because that's way way cheaper, but walk into an auto parts store, and order a part, half the time unless its super common, they will just 3D print it for you.

Now 3D printed space stations? Maybe, its hard to say, way more than 10 years out for sure, but I can imagine automated processes that take apart an asteroid and build a space station from it.

redsquid:Remember back in the 90's when VR was going to be the next big breakout technology? Where is it now? Sure we have the Occulus Rift but it will never be a common household item. 3D printers will never fill a need in the average American household, in spite of all the Star Trek replicator hype from the boosters.

Careful, you'll now be blacklisted by all the pale, shaking nerds and never be invited to the Annual Delusional Beliefs About Technology conference. Don't you know the first computer at Kitty Hawk only had 1 horsepower of memory, therefore anything is possible?

Open Source is out there to shift the 'cost' from the cost of software to the cost of labor.

i.e. this is a cool idea, but I can't get anyone to pay me to build it.

... so I'll build the core, and then 'open source' it,

Eventually, someone will need it actually implemented, and they'll pay me - the expert in the open source project - to implement its full form for them.

The real joke is that by making it an 'open source' project they were able to develop several iterations of their product with next to no R&D budget thanks to the eager community of enthusiastic users. Most of the innovations and improvements to the device came from the input of that community. Last year they announced that the new version would not be open source- thanks for all your help and support, now fark off. This buy out is no surprise.Here's the real punchline- 3D printing is the virtual reality of the 20teens. Remember back in the 90's when VR was going to be the next big breakout technology? Where is it now? Sure we have the Occulus Rift but it will never be a common household item. 3D printers will never fill a need in the average American household, in spite of all the Star Trek replicator hype from the boosters. Paper printers caught on because people had things they needed to print on a regular basis- letters, documents, coupons, photos, school work, etc. Are there similar 3D items we need on a regular basis? After you print a few toys and curiosities,that Makerbot will end up in a closet collecting dust right next to your Nintendo Virtual Boy, your beer making kit and your tomogachi and Bre Pettis will be laughing all the way to the bank.

3D printing will destroy the container ship industry and put a kink in China's manufacturing industry.

In the not to distant future you will buy your 3D plans and pop over to the convenience store to pick up,your widget.

HempHead:3D printing will destroy the container ship industry and put a kink in China's manufacturing industry.

In the not to distant future you will buy your 3D plans and pop over to the convenience store to pick up,your widget.

I read that William Gibson novel too. The powers that be will not allow that to happen. There is too much money riding on the status quo.I wish it wasn't so but it is. VHS cassettes and file sharing have not destroyed the entertainment industry. Electric cars, biodiesel and ethanol have not destroyed the oil industry. PETA and all the vegetarians in the world have not destroyed the meat industry. That utopian Star Trek future of replicators and equality is a pipe dream to keep us placid and hopeful. Money always wins.

redsquid:3D printers will never fill a need in the average American household, in spite of all the Star Trek replicator hype from the boosters.

That's really not what they're for. Unlike VR, additive manufacturing has serious industrial applications. Everybody from medical firms to NASA is doing it, and they're seeing serious benefits. The barrier to entry for some forms of additive manufacturing are surprisingly low, making it ideal for rapid prototyping and making components for your eventual production scale-up, as well as making bespoke parts affordable.

The American household has no use for these, any more than the average American household needs a lathe or a router.

ongbok:All I want to know is in 10 years are we going to be farking 3D printed pussy?

redsquid:The powers that be will not allow that to happen. There is too much money riding on the status quo.

I think you underestimate the interest that the powers-that-be have in reducing costs and increasing production. They won't mind that you're 3D printing stuff at the local shop- when you've licensed the model for $19.95. And don't worry, that local shop won't print unlicensed files.

Just the other day I was looking at Makerbot and thinking their design was looking pretty dated now. An excellent move all around, IMO.

The Makerbot founders and shareholders get money to go do their next thing.Stratasys gets a "mature technology" reliable 3D printer, and has the money to build them in a real factory, and sell them at Best Buy for $599.

Personally, I'm still waiting. The Formlabs Form-1 is pretty much what I want, but I wasn't confident enough they could pull it off to do the Kickstarter. Maybe after they're caught-up on orders, or maybe I'll wait for their next generation. It's not like I actually need one; it's just going to be another new toy.

As a player in the 3D printing & scanning world (my lab has 3, and I'm speaking at a national conference on the subject this summer, so shut up), I can say that I'm very troubled by Stratasys' moves recently. They are buying up all the cool technology, locking up all the resins and materials in proprietary formulations and software, and then shoving it up the ass of the end-users who have no choice but to buy from a sole source. Stratasys used to just make cool gear, but now they're becoming the evil Micro$oft of the 3D printing world. Does a 1kg bottle of UV sensitive resin really need to cost US$150? This shiat is ludicrous.

Macular Degenerate:As a player in the 3D printing & scanning world (my lab has 3, and I'm speaking at a national conference on the subject this summer, so shut up), I can say that I'm very troubled by Stratasys' moves recently. They are buying up all the cool technology, locking up all the resins and materials in proprietary formulations and software, and then shoving it up the ass of the end-users who have no choice but to buy from a sole source. Stratasys used to just make cool gear, but now they're becoming the evil Micro$oft of the 3D printing world. Does a 1kg bottle of UV sensitive resin really need to cost US$150? This shiat is ludicrous.

Macular Degenerate:As a player in the 3D printing & scanning world (my lab has 3, and I'm speaking at a national conference on the subject this summer, so shut up), I can say that I'm very troubled by Stratasys' moves recently. They are buying up all the cool technology, locking up all the resins and materials in proprietary formulations and software, and then shoving it up the ass of the end-users who have no choice but to buy from a sole source. Stratasys used to just make cool gear, but now they're becoming the evil Micro$oft of the 3D printing world. Does a 1kg bottle of UV sensitive resin really need to cost US$150? This shiat is ludicrous.

They are a bit annoying, my comapny was in talks with objet about the time they got bought, and that went out the frikkin window

I was looking forward to having an objet at the office for demonstration purposes

SteakMan:I bet in less than 5yrs you'll be able to send 3D chocolate renderings of your kids to your Mom on mother's day.

You can buy a printer for about $5K.

But still, none of this is going to end up in consumers hands. Look at the greeting card market - at one time, people were being sold on "print your own greeting cards" from their printers, but you compare the cost and quality with the cost and quality of the ones you can order online and people have stopped doing it because a specialist doing it kicks your ass.

You'll get someone doing 3d chocolate online. You upload a png, put in someone's address and they'll print it and send it. And you'll pay maybe $20 for the service.